STONE
pebbles are strewn all over the straight beeline paths that lead to
the focal point from different directions: there stands the giant
white marble tomb that is 184 ft. high, in an area of 64 acres of land
in the green field near Chowringhee. Victoria Memorial symbolises the
architectural essence of Italian Renaissance and cultural nuances of
Oriental art. The 16-foot-high bronze Angel of Victory, revolves upon
its base and surmounts the dome to remind one of the glorious past of
the British Raj. The grandeur of the statue could be seen reflected on
the artificial lakes that encircle the dome in the beautiful gardens
of paradise. Several marble arches depicting the British Raj are there
at the entrance in the south as well as northern gates.

Victoria Memorial,
the pride of Kolkata, stands as a symbol of love and respect to Queen
Victoria. This is a national Valhalla of Indo-Anglian worthies
conceived as a period museum of medieval and modern Indian history at
the turn of the century when the British empire had reached its high
noon.

It was Lord Curzon,
the then Viceroy of British India who had dreamt of the Victoria
Memorial after the expiry of the Queen in 1901. Its foundation stone
was laid by King George VI, her grandson, then the Prince of Wales on
January 4, 1906. It took some 20 years to complete the memorial which
was formally opened to the public in 1921.

The construction of the stately
building, surrounded by an exquisite garden, covering 64 acres that
cost at that time over a crore of rupees was entirely funded by the
Indian subscriptions - the building was designed by William Emerson,
president, British Institute of Architects, adopting Italian
Renaissance with a touch of orientalism in the arrangement of the
domes.

The Angel of Victory atop the memorial

The marble used for
the building of 338ft x 228 ft. and the soaring height of 184 ft. was
quarried at Makrana in Jodhpur. The groups of statues ornamenting the
Memorial porches and the central dome were executed in Italy.

Tourists from other
states and abroad will invariably be handed over a list of
sight-seeing itineraries that will include Victoria Memorial on the
top. The memorial is not taken merely as a beauty spot. It has been
declared a national monument and preserved as a historical document of
the past. It is an apparently a British imitation of the Taj.

One has to pay a
nominal Rs 2 as entry fee to the national memorial which is kept open
between 10 to 5 every day during March-October and between 10-4 during
November-February, with usual closure on all official holidays. Inside
the campus, son-et-lumiere is being held in two different shows
in Bengali and English every day evening, depicting Kolkata’s past
and present and its culture and heritage which has a special
attraction for the tourists.

That is why, the real
tourist to Kolkata would rarely miss the opportunity to visit the
historical monument. It is a cultural memorial of the pre-camera days
with the visuals in oil and water-colour, sketches and drawing,
acquaints and lithographs, stamp and postal stationery, coins and
medals, arms and armour, books and manuscripts, costumes, personal
relics and archival documents of the Indo-British cultural heritage.

The single largest
collection of Danniells’ paintings are preserved in the museum of
the Victoria Memorial, where the Queen’s personal belongings like
writing desk and fountain pen, clothes and costumes, golden ornaments
etc. are there. The memorial’s philatelic collection on Indian
postal history, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s hand-written Koran,
Dara Shiko’s translation of the Upanishadas, George Subbs’
painting of Hastings, Qazar’s painting of Fatah Ali Shal, Tipu
Sultan’s personal war-diary as well as the cannon-balls of the
Plassey etc have been of great attraction to all. The memorial
possesses the third largest paintings in the world — Vassili
Verestchagin’s The State
Procession of the Prince of Wales into Jaipur in 1876.

An arch with Edward VII on horse-back at the southern gate

If the initial
Curzonian scheme of collection and arrangement of the exhibits are
seen as a composite representation of empire, the post-Independence
collection preserved in the memorial could be termed as quest for
Indian national identity which is certainly evident in the National
Leaders’ Gallery as well as collections of their artifacts —
Bankim Chandra’s writing desk, Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes and Jamini
Roy’s paintings.

The exhibits are on
display in the royal gallery, portrait gallery, arms and armament
gallery, the central hall, the Qeen’s Hall, sculpture gallery,
Daniel’s Room, Queen Mary’s Room, Hastings’ Room, National
Leaders’ gallery and Documents’ gallery are of great attraction.
The unique history of three centuries in capsule form are well
preserved and displayed in this historic memorial.

But like all other
government-run organisations, Victoria Memorial suffers from
administrative lacunae, which stands in the way of proper running and
maintenance of the historical memento.As a result, the Memorial now
has a shabby look and the place has been gradually turning into a
common place of merry-making and fun like in a Zoo or a Botanical
gardens. The marble-palace building has been also a victim of
pollution hazards — dust and dirt and gas emanating of the speeding
motors and vehicles that run down the thoroughfares.

Every day, people who
visit Victoria Memorial see the place not as history but a place for
fun and merry-making.

They come, buy
tickets and hurriedly make a merry-go-round the place. Some, however,
would casually visit the exhibition centres and then come out to visit
some other places as if they are visiting the Zoo or the millennium
park near the Ganga or going round the maidan and Chowringhee
areas.

There is hardly any
guide present there to tell the visitors about the history of the
memorial. Nor are there any easily available guide-books for the
visitors, telling the history of the glorious past. The archives which
preserve the rare documents and the personal belongings of the Queen
and her majesties family, are always found closed.

The visitors now
prefer going round the gardens, sitting and relaxing near the lakes,
taking snacks and gossip to keep themselves confined inside the
memorial halls. In the evening, some would buy tickets and see the son-et-lumienere
(light & shades programme) on Kolkata and its glorious past.

The curator of the
memorial, Prof C. Panda admits about certain inherent drawbacks that
stand in the way of properly running the national museum. He says
there has been shortage of guides as the recruitment of guides has
been stopped on financial grounds.

He, however, discloses the memorial
was given a new look by undertaking a thorough chemical cleaning of
the domes and the memorial at a cost of Rs 1 crore. The internal
renovation work including preservation of library, museums etc. and
other valuable document has been undertaken at a cost of another Rs 3
crore, which when soon completed, will enhance the attraction of the
historical memorial.